Today's Features

My first taste of Beef Wellington was at a fancy restaurant back in my younger days and I can still remember the elegant presentation and, of course, the fantastic taste. The dish is an English preparation of beef tenderloin coated with pâté (often pâté de foie gras) and duxelles (a mixture of onions and mushrooms), which is then wrapped in puff pastry and baked.

I wrote about this dish last month, but wanted to revisit it with some additional recipes.

It’s easy to get excited about the superstars of the garden: roses, crape myrtles, azaleas and gardenias. When their time to shine arrives, it’s greeted with oohs and aahs from all fortunate enough to bask in their glory.

But what about those plant workhorses that make your garden better and ask very little in return?

American Merchant Marine Veterans, a nonprofit originally established by World War II Merchant Mariners, seeks former and present Merchant Mariners in its membership to help keep its maritime history alive and to assist in achieving its goals, which includes earning veteran’s status for post-World War II conflict Mariners. Membership includes a quarterly magazine.

Saturday, Sept. 17, is the best day of the year for wine-lovers to go for a grape foot-dip.

Silver Coast Winery at 6680 Barbeque Road in the Grissettown area is having its 11th Purple Feet Festival from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Highlights include grape-stomping and, at 3:30 p.m., the annual Lucille Ball lookalike contest, reflective of the 1956 “I Love Lucy” episode where Lucy unwittingly finds herself in an Italian vineyard vat having to crush grapes with her feet and winds up in a grape fight in the process.

Good news doting dog owners: New research proves you’re more than a treat dispenser to your pooch. Given the choice, chances are your dog would prefer your praise over food. This surprisingly unsurprising revelation was the conclusion of a small scientific study conducted by neuroscientists from Emory University. These results have important implications for how we train and treat our canines.

We have so many choices today, and I wonder whether all our options have created some negative side effects. While I’m all for progress — and choices — it seems that one of the side effects is indecisiveness.